Well, Hi. I found your little waters edge on the web looking for info on keeping native species in an aquarium. I just wanted to say you have a really nice set-up here and eventually maybe you can take what info you have gathered here at the forum and create the ultimate aquarium guide online. I currently have a Largemouth Bass that I caught accidently in a minnow trap that I was using to get food for my 2 painted turtles. I didnt realize what I had until the colors really started to show up. I will probably raise it until I feel my tank is too small and release him in the open water. I also have a juvenile Bluegill. He is less than an inch long. Both these guys eat regular fish food, but I will have to train the bass to eat live food before I release him. I have a longnose gar. It is about 3 inches long. Likes live food. I have 2 creek chubs.... I raised them from babies less than an inch long... they are both about 2 inches long now. I have a regular minnow... around here we call them shiners... and I have 7 tiny fish Im not sure what they are yet. They arent too interesting, but they are local fish and I think it is neat that I have a little piece of the lake all to myself to enjoy. If anyone wants to know anything else feel free to reply to my thread. Thanks for your interest in My Fish Tank.
New Native Collector Here
- Thread starter New2Fishtanx
- Start date
hey, new2, and welcome to the tank!!! i am one of the native keepers on the site, so if you have any problems or want someone to share your excitment about a new catch, i'm your girl! 
i've been keeping natives for 3 years now and LOVE it! i'll never go back to tropicals. they have so much more personality then trops IMHO
i've been keeping natives for 3 years now and LOVE it! i'll never go back to tropicals. they have so much more personality then trops IMHO My son is 11. He brought home a turtle last weekend (we believe it's a painted turtle). We live in central NY & I'm not knowledgable about what turtles are native to this area. I think we'll be releasing it soon (a week or 2 from now) but, do you have any suggestion on the turtle's care in the meantime?
It's amazing that I can identify most the tropical fish my LFS & yet I can't do it for fish in my local water (lakes, rivers, ponds, streams).
At this point in time I don't have a free tank available for native fishkeeping. (hmmmm, when the turtle is released maybe....... but it's only a 10gal.)
It's amazing that I can identify most the tropical fish my LFS & yet I can't do it for fish in my local water (lakes, rivers, ponds, streams).
At this point in time I don't have a free tank available for native fishkeeping. (hmmmm, when the turtle is released maybe....... but it's only a 10gal.)
Thanx for the warm welcome. I really like the natives... my only problem is that I am constantly tryin to make it appear more "natural". Hmmm well anyways, alot has changed since i started this thread. The bluegill became a quick meal for the bass... and all the small minnows were gone in 2 or 3 days... so now its feeder guppies from the shop. The gar is trying to get the hunting thing down... He has a few problems being sneaky. I have no live plants because im not really sure what to put in there. I could go down to the lake and get some seaweed, but it isnt all that attractive. Any ideas? I never knew largemouth bass are color changing like a chameleon. I had it in a white 5 gallon bucket while I changed out the tank once again and when I pulled him and put him in the new setup, he was almost all white with a light grey line where his black or dark green one was. Then he turned back when he was back in his home. Nobody ever told me longnose, or needlenose gar can grow up to 36 inches.... looks like a bigger tank for him too. Thanks for your welcome...
Oh, Fishbrain, as for the turtle if you still have it, brine shrimp and small feeders are cool if it is medium sized with maybe that store bought turtle food... turtles will usually eat about anything though... older ones are mostly on veggie diets. It may be a Red-Ear Slider (painted turtle) if it has the give-away red stripe on each side of its head where its ears would be. Just be sure to give it a basking spot or it can turn out to be a nasty thing to have around. Turtles are very prone to carry samonella so hygiene after handling or even touching the water is VERY important. I was an 11 year old boy once... I know how much hygiene mattered...lol Hope I helped you some if you didnt already search the info out you needed on the net...
fishbrain, if you're really interested in native fish and reptiles, i HIGHLY recommend picking up a field guide at your local bookshop or library. the peterson's guides are really good. that way, when you have a turtle or fish, you can read up on what it likes to eat, how big they get, etc i suggest getting a good sized tank so that you can keep the critters you and your son bring home.. a great educational tool, too
new2fish, it can definitly be a challenge to create a natural setup. check out the lake/stream you collected the fish and try to emulate that but using the same (or similar) substrate, plants etc. read up on what you have to see if they like a heavily vegetated setup or not etc etc. i only use plants that i collect myself (with the exception of some ludwigia i had from when i was into tropicals...). this is the best time of year for that. lots of great aquatic grasses and macroalgaes. check out small streams and the banks of ponds. there are lots of great plants, but you just have to look! you can alawys rock some plastic plants. and if the fish dont' care about vegetation, driftwood and rocks will do the trick too! my 20g setup is like that, just rocks and driftwood.
most native fish do have some color-chanign abilities depending on their surroundings as you have found out!
even though i work for the D.E.P., i really don't know what kind of trouble you could get into. i take home fish all the time. haha. i think you technically should have a collector's permit, but like i said, i really don't know. you should pick up the NY state's Angler's guide. that has all the rules & regulations in it. just be careful no one sees you hehehe you can always call up the NY DEP and ask if you are worried.
i suggest getting a good sized tank so that you can keep the critters you and your son bring home.. a great educational tool, too new2fish, it can definitly be a challenge to create a natural setup. check out the lake/stream you collected the fish and try to emulate that but using the same (or similar) substrate, plants etc. read up on what you have to see if they like a heavily vegetated setup or not etc etc. i only use plants that i collect myself (with the exception of some ludwigia i had from when i was into tropicals...). this is the best time of year for that. lots of great aquatic grasses and macroalgaes. check out small streams and the banks of ponds. there are lots of great plants, but you just have to look!
you can alawys rock some plastic plants. and if the fish dont' care about vegetation, driftwood and rocks will do the trick too! my 20g setup is like that, just rocks and driftwood.most native fish do have some color-chanign abilities depending on their surroundings as you have found out!
even though i work for the D.E.P., i really don't know what kind of trouble you could get into. i take home fish all the time. haha. i think you technically should have a collector's permit, but like i said, i really don't know. you should pick up the NY state's Angler's guide. that has all the rules & regulations in it. just be careful no one sees you hehehe
you can always call up the NY DEP and ask if you are worried.Wow the things are thriving! I now have 2 longnose gars and I am curious if anyone has any info if they are social fish or not. The one has some slight damage to his tail and im not sure if it was from the other, or any of the other critters in there. I guess ill have to dig deeper into the net to see what I can find about them.... Anyone know a really cheap place to get huge aquariums? I want a big one that will house my bass and the two gars for at least a few years until I get an indoor pond built..
Bad news....
Bad news on the natives tank... My gars are both about 3 1/2 to 4 inches long. I made the stupid mistake of putting two crayfish in the tank for extra cleanup of fallen food or fish parts. Seems crayfish are sneaky little psychos. The two ganged up on one of my gars and ate its tail completely off and tore the skin from the entire lower jaw so it couldnt eat anymore and died. How terrible. I now realize that is what was happening to their tails... The bass are thriving. I am at about a dozen feeder guppies every other day now. The biggest on I think is going to be a giant. It doesnt have the traditional fingerling slender shape. It is actually almost shaped like a fullgrown bass with the flat bottom side and very bulky sides. So just to update. I now have:
1-~4" Longnose Gar
2-1 1/2" Largemouth Bass
2-<1" Rock Bass
1-<1" Bluegill
and a small flock of feeders....
Oh, and the two Red Eared Sliders...
I really need a bigger tank. If anyone of you had a chance at a full setup 75 gallon tank with stand and all filtration and aeration systems for 200 would you buy it? It is 4 feet long. I was concidering building my own.. but for 200 I probably couldnt get the glass and all the other parts for 200. Any ideas let me know.
Bad news on the natives tank... My gars are both about 3 1/2 to 4 inches long. I made the stupid mistake of putting two crayfish in the tank for extra cleanup of fallen food or fish parts. Seems crayfish are sneaky little psychos. The two ganged up on one of my gars and ate its tail completely off and tore the skin from the entire lower jaw so it couldnt eat anymore and died. How terrible. I now realize that is what was happening to their tails... The bass are thriving. I am at about a dozen feeder guppies every other day now. The biggest on I think is going to be a giant. It doesnt have the traditional fingerling slender shape. It is actually almost shaped like a fullgrown bass with the flat bottom side and very bulky sides. So just to update. I now have:1-~4" Longnose Gar
2-1 1/2" Largemouth Bass
2-<1" Rock Bass
1-<1" Bluegill
and a small flock of feeders....
Oh, and the two Red Eared Sliders...
I really need a bigger tank. If anyone of you had a chance at a full setup 75 gallon tank with stand and all filtration and aeration systems for 200 would you buy it? It is 4 feet long. I was concidering building my own.. but for 200 I probably couldnt get the glass and all the other parts for 200. Any ideas let me know.
New2,
I'm notoriously a cheap sob, so $200 sounds a little steap to me. Normally I consider $1 per gallon without equipment or $2 per gallon with equipment a decent deal for used.
Are you sure it was the crayfish that got your gar? I've got 6 of them (crayfish), and they never bother the fish. Even when the fish provoke them they'll just poke them in the head with there claws to chase them away, but not even clamp on. If it was the crayfish, it might be that they aren't getting enough to eat. If you've only got feeders, there might not be enough bits left for them when the bass are done. I feed mine shrimp pellets and they love them - and the fish don't eat them before they get to the bottom.
Regarding your question about legality of the bass, I'm guessing you're probably not legal. Most states don't allow possesion of any game fish under the legal length limit. But, I wouldn't worry about it. Most of our DNR's are rediculously underfunded, and they've got better things to worry about than your pet bass. If you're worried about it, let me know and I'll do some research on the regs.
One last note - and please don't take offense, this is only a suggestion - I think you're over-feeding. I feed just enough to keep flat stomachs on my sunfish and gills. Concave stomachs mean I'm not feeding enough. Convex mean I'm feeding too much. Too much food just makes the fish grow faster and crap more, and no matter how much you feed they'll still want more.
Welcome to the site. Happy to see another native keeper on here.
kc17
I'm notoriously a cheap sob, so $200 sounds a little steap to me. Normally I consider $1 per gallon without equipment or $2 per gallon with equipment a decent deal for used.
Are you sure it was the crayfish that got your gar? I've got 6 of them (crayfish), and they never bother the fish. Even when the fish provoke them they'll just poke them in the head with there claws to chase them away, but not even clamp on. If it was the crayfish, it might be that they aren't getting enough to eat. If you've only got feeders, there might not be enough bits left for them when the bass are done. I feed mine shrimp pellets and they love them - and the fish don't eat them before they get to the bottom.
Regarding your question about legality of the bass, I'm guessing you're probably not legal. Most states don't allow possesion of any game fish under the legal length limit. But, I wouldn't worry about it. Most of our DNR's are rediculously underfunded, and they've got better things to worry about than your pet bass. If you're worried about it, let me know and I'll do some research on the regs.
One last note - and please don't take offense, this is only a suggestion - I think you're over-feeding. I feed just enough to keep flat stomachs on my sunfish and gills. Concave stomachs mean I'm not feeding enough. Convex mean I'm feeding too much. Too much food just makes the fish grow faster and crap more, and no matter how much you feed they'll still want more.
Welcome to the site. Happy to see another native keeper on here.
kc17